G/TBT/N/SGP/51  
18 July 2019  
(19-4785) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original:  English  
 
  
NOTIFICATION  
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6  
 
1. Notifying Member:  SINGAPORE   
If applicable, name of local government involved (Article 3.2 and 7.2):   
2. Agency responsible:  Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF)  
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers , email and website 
addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above:   
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X], 2.10.1 [   ], 5.6.2 [   ], 5.7.1 [   ], other :  
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff 
heading. ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable):  Composite 
Panel. National tariff heading: 39.25  
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified documen t: Updated Fire 
Code 2018 – Notice will be published on SCDF's website 
(https://www.scdf.gov.sg/home/fire -safety/downloads/acts -codes -regulations ) when 
adopted.  
6. Description of content:  The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) regulates fire safety 
products and materials through its Product Listing Scheme (PLS), which is a third party 
certification regime based on ISO/IEC 17067. Companies that wish to supply such 
products in Singapore are required to certify their products by obtaining a Certificate of 
Conformity (CoC) from the Certification Bodies (CBs) that are accredited by the Singapore 
Accreditation Council (SAC). These regulated products are subject to a surve illance 
regime, which may include annual inspections of factories and/or annual surveillance 
tests. The intent is to ensure the public's safety, by subjecting higher risk products and 
materials to standards and tests to be assured of their fire safety perf ormance.  
SCDF will be introducing the following enhancements to the certification regime for 
composite panels:  
1. Enhance current certification scheme and impose new requirement of taking test 
samples from each project site:  
Composite panels used as cladding are currently subjected to Certification 
Scheme Type  2. Certification Scheme Type 2 entails an initial certification of the 
product, followed by an annual surveillance test. It lacks other activities, such as 
factory inspection and audit of manage ment systems. The certification scheme 
will be enhanced to Certification Scheme Type 5 under the ISO/IEC 17067 
standard with the additional requirement of taking samples from every project 
site for testing.  G/TBT/N/SGP/51  
 
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  2. Requirement to emboss critical information on com posite panels:  
Critical product information shall be printed on the protective film and 
permanently embossed onto the composite panel for traceability. This will be 
made a requirement for the CoC holders.  
7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where 
applicable:  Following a fire in Singapore on 4 May 2017 which involved the use of non -
compliant composite panels as cladding on the building façade that resulted in the rapid 
vertical spread of fire, SCDF conducted a review to tighten existing policies, regulations 
and certification processes pertaining to composite panels used as cladding. An Advisory 
Panel comprising representatives from government agencies and the industry, was 
convened on 1 Feb ruary  2018 to provide advice  on the feasibility of SCDF's proposals 
arising from the review.  
1. Enhance current certification scheme and impose new mandatory requirement 
of taking test samples from each project site  
Currently, Certification Scheme Type 2 for composite panels used as cl adding 
does not fully address other factors that could result in non -compliant composite 
panels being supplied to project sites and used as cladding (e.g. due to 
manufacturing inconsistencies or undeclared modification of the panels which can 
degrade their  fire performance). To ensure greater quality assurance throughout 
the supply chain, Certification Scheme Type  5 as well as testing of samples from 
every new project site provides a strong deterrence against the use of non -
compliant composite panels.  
2. Requirement to emboss critical information on composite panels  
Composite panels have multiple uses, including cladding for building façade and 
for roofing. The standards for use as cladding is higher, given the risk of it 
contributing to vertical fire spread. It is possible for different types of composite 
panels to be stored together at suppliers' warehouses, and delivered to project 
sites at once, hence there is a significant risk of composite panels being mixed -up. 
If they are not clearly differentiated, it could lead to wrong types of composite 
panels being installed as cladding on buildings, to the detriment of the fire safety 
of the building. In order to address this, SCDF will require CoC holders to 
permanently emboss critical information, such as product  brand, model number, 
CoC number, name of CoC holder, date of manufacture and batch number on 
each composite panel. This serves to allow the suppliers or installers to clearly 
identify each panel, and understand where it should be supplied to or installed.  
8. Relevant documents:   
• Fire Code 2018: https://www.scdf.gov.sg/docs /default -source/scdf -library/fssd -
downloads/fire -code-2018-edition.pdf  
• ISO/IEC 17067:2013: https://www.iso.org/standard/55087.html  
9. Proposed date of adoption:  Notice will be published prior to the date of entry into force.  
Proposed date of entry into force:  To be confirmed  
10. Final date for comments:  60 days from notification  
11. Texts available from:  National enquiry point [ ] or address, telephone and fax 
numbers and email and website addresses, if available , of other body:   
Product Listing Branch  
Central Enforcement Department  
Singapore Civil Defence Force  
91 Ubi Ave 4 Singapore 408827  
Tel: (65) 68484 1408  
Email: scdf_pls@scdf.gov.sg